Jharsuguda by-poll: 68.12% turnout till 5 p.m.

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission has recorded 68.12 per cent voter turnout till 5 p.m. in the by-poll for Jharsuguda Assembly constituency in Odisha.

Polling for the Assembly seat began at 7 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m. in all 253 booths in the constituency on Wednesday, said Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Nikunja Bihari Dhal.

A total of 1,51,035 voters casted their votes in the by-poll till 5 p.m., he said.

Minor clashes were reported in three polling booths. However, there was no disturbance in voting, Dhal said.

Live webcasting was conducted in all 253 booths. The polling was conducted smoothly in the constituency, the CEO said.

With the completion of voting, the fate of nine candidates including Naba Das' daughter Dipali Das (BJD), Tankadhar Tripathy (BJP) and Tarun Pandey (Congress) have been sealed in the EVMs.

All three main political parties, BJD, BJP and Congress, have nominated fresh candidates for the by-poll. The three candidates cast their votes in different wards of Jharsuguda municipality.

The by-poll was necessitated following the murder of local MLA and ex-Minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29 this year. Votes will be counted on May 13.